Afternoon At Gran's
by MintIceTea
Summary: Jackie babysits her adorable alien granddaughter.


"Right." Jackie eyed her alien granddaughter warily as the baby sat and babbled on the floor of Rose's old bedroom. Padded safely with blankets and pillows to keep her contained. The Doctor, obviously in nervous parent mode (though he'd forever deny it), had nearly overwhelmed Jackie with information on the infantile years of Gallifreyans, which he kept insisting was hypothetical. That's a lot of help then, ta. Jackie was fine with normal human babies, but alien babes were a different story. "So while your mum 'n dad—"

"Da!" Perrine clapped her hands, nearly falling over in her enthusiasm.

Jackie blinked in surprise, kneeling on the floor beside her, and placing a hand on the babe's back to steady her. "That's right, Mum and Dad said you'd be an early talker, didn' think it be this early yet." Perrine blew spit bubbles. Jackie snorted, reaching for a cloth to wipe the baby's mouth. "Anyway, you're here with Gran while Mum 'n Dad go and save alien worlds or whatever they claim to do." In a time machine no less! And Jackie thought the airs Rose picked up from Henrik's were bad.

"Daaaa!" Perrine cheered again, then suddenly quieted. Her eyes glistened before she hiccupped loudly, making herself and Jackie giggle. She picked up the baby from her pallet on the floor of Rose's old bedroom, giving the babe a smacking kiss on each cheek before taking her to the kitchen, perched happily on her hip.

"Your Mum left some of that fancy baby food your Dad insists on," "Da!" "Yes, Dad, they said they'd be back within the hour but we'll see." Jackie rolled her eyes as she strapped the babe into a highchair (one from this century, Jackie had insisted, if it was going to be in her kitchen). "They better make it back before your birthday or I'll smack both of them silly."

Perrine giggled, reaching for the bunch of bananas across the room with grabby little baby hands. Jackie made a silly face and instead dished the baby food into a plastic bowl with a matching spoon. Though she was tempted to peel a banana and let Perrine squish it. May have to save that for later if she got fussy. She pulled a chair beside her granddaughter and offered her a spoonful of the Doctor's concoction.

Lunch ended up being a rather messy ordeal. As much as Perrine seemed to enjoy her baby food, she seemed to like slinging it more. Jackie did indeed have to let Perrine squash a banana while she cleaned food of the walls. "I hope you give your parents this much trouble," Jackie scolded gently as she bathed Perrine in the sink. The baby squealed, splashing happily and Jackie couldn't help but laugh.

Wrapped up, cozy and dressed in a clean onsie, Jackie let Perrine sit on the floor beside her while she dug out some old VHS. There was should still be some old Disney ones of Rose's. Even though Perrine was too young to enjoy any story line, the music would be entertaining for her at least.

As it was Perrine fell asleep halfway through Bed Knobs and Broomsticks. Jackie flipped the channel to and reclined back against the couch, Perrine snuggled against her chest. Jackie's hand stroked gently down her back. The strange faint warmth from the tiny baby's body was soothing, Jackie was soon following her into dreamland on the couch.

Sometime later she was startled awake when the front door opened. Jackie jumped slightly, but Perrine settled back into sleep after letting out a little whimper. Slowly, Jackie eased the baby onto the couch proper. Tucking her in with a throw blanket so she wouldn't roll off. Still, keeping a careful eye on her while she stood.

"Hey, mum!" Rose greeted with a cheerful whisper. The Doctor poked his head cautiously around the corner. Jackie rolled her eyes, and gestured towards the bundle on the couch.

"So, everything okay on planet-whatever-its'-name-is?"

The Doctor huffed, and crossed his arms, though Jackie noticed his gaze on Rose as she knelt beside the baby. "It was Prime Exilit 5, and yes we found the source of the distress signal and got that sorted. It only took a day or so."

Jackie nodded. "It's been about three hours here, so there's one for you I guess."

He smirked, and he looked so haughty her palm itched to smack him just for that. He seemed to sense it and took a step back. Now it was Jackie's turn to smirk. Perrine started fussing as she woke up and they turned their attention from each other to Rose and the baby. A pout twisted Perrine's lips, and she tucked her head against Rose's neck; seeming angry at being awake. The Doctor smiled softly in their direction.

Rose swayed slightly, rocking the baby. "Thanks for watching her, Mum."

"Of course, she's an angel. No problem at all. You'll be back soon? For a proper visit?" Jackie fretted, handing her alien son-in-law the baby bag.

"Yeah Mum." Rose hummed, as Perrine blinked grumpily around the room. "We'll be back for sure the second Perrine starts talking."

Before Jackie could even open her mouth, the baby in question spotted her father watching her. Bright eyed, she reached for him, grabby hands and whimpering voice. "Da!" She chirped demandingly.

Jackie watched in amusement as the new parents froze in surprise. Perrine was oblivious, still reaching for the Doctor, and growing frustrated with his lack of reaction. "Da! Da! Daaaaa!"

He finally shook himself out of it when Perrine seemed on the verge of crying. "Perrine!" He plucked her from Rose's arms and spun her about. Bringing her down and kissing her neck.

Rose was grinning, watching them.

"So that's new, I'm guessing?" Jackie said, grinning when the Doctor managed to get Perrine to giggle.

"Yeah, it was all baby gurgles until today. No actual words." Rose gave her mother a look. "You know he's gonna be insufferable now, I've been trying to get her to say 'mum' for weeks."


End file.
